


Use proper facts, not rumors, as basis for stories

by Rogercat



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Books, Distrust, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Gossip, Healing, Herbalism, Married Couple, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, Past Relationship(s), Pregnancy, Rebirth, Returning Home, Royalty, Rumours, Scandal, Social Issues, Tirion, True Love, Valinor, warriors - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-10-21 15:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17645822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogercat/pseuds/Rogercat
Summary: Finduilas and Gwindor is not pleased at all to learn that the whole drama with Turin is treated as a actual fact by people who does not really research what happenedOr, why using rumours as basis for scandalous books are not a wise idea at all, when some of the main characters actually hold a very good chance of returning to life eventually





	1. How it all starts

**Author's Note:**

> This story is not meant as a insult to fanfiction or anything similiar in RL, just that writing false things about living persons can cause a lot of legal trouble if it is found out

For those who was reborn and returned to live in Valinor after a life in Exile back in Middle-earth, the Blessed Realm could come off as a bit too peaceful, too calm despite that there was a difference from before the Darkening. Things was no longer taken for granted by many.

 

And yet, because information and news from Middle-earth was spare, some pieces of history was bound to be seriously misunderstood because often, there had been very few people who could tell and not know all the details. 

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

It all started when Amarië returned home from a visit at the market, having planned to buy some new books for their private library in their home. 

 

“Findaráto? There was something strange happening at the bookstore today. I know that it is often so when a new book comes out and it becomes popular, but the contents of this book...worries me a bit,” she said, gaining the attention of her husband as he lowered another book from his face, where he had been seated in a comfortable chair. 

 

“Is it that kind of “scandalous” books which have become so popular among younger Elves those days, as aunt Anairë called it at the last family visit? Badly written romance which proves that the author is not familiar with either courtship or the arts of pleasure in bed?” 

 

He was alarmed by the unsure look on her fair face. Not good, it have to be serious since she normally did not bother to care about that kind of stories.  Amarië came closer to him, handing over a book which was slightly smaller than the normal size of books they brought.

 

“Read the title, beloved.”

 

Finrod turned it over at her request. 

 

_ Love in Nargothrond _

 

“Is it someone who have gotten the crazy idea of me secretly marrying someone else than you, despite that I remained faithful?”

 

“It is not you, but someone else. Look at the summary at the following page.”

 

At doing so, Finrod first saw nothing to worry about. Then, at reading it a second time, he realized why his wife had been dismayed enough to buy a copy of the book and bring it home for him to see. Then, when he looked over a history book she had found the same content inside, treated as a historical fact for everyone to read. 

 

“ _ No...if the couple in question  _ **_and_ ** _ her father learns about this, how her social reputation has been destroyed over the years...heads will roll when they comes out of the Halls because this is not going to be kept secret for them! _ ” 

 

Amarië had to catch the first book Finrod threw up in the air as he rushed out from the library with the erotic book and the history book in one hand, fanatically calling for all their servants that should be done with their tasks for the morning. 

 

“Help me search through all the bookstores in Tirion and try to find out which ones that sells those two books, right now! I need to tell my father that he must write a royal decree that those books are illegal to buy and sell!!” 

 

It was pretty surprising for the household to see Finrod this alarmed, since he normally was rather calm, even if he was no younger the same as in his youth before the Darkening. 

 

“If Finduilas finds out that people here in Valinor believes  **_the false story_ ** of her being unfaithful to Gwindor with that cursed Man who doomed them and that she is painted as a weak-willed damsel rather than the  **_warrior princess_ ** she actually is, she will not remain passive in action against it!!” 

 

Finrod could only pray to the Valar that he could stop this scandal from growing out of control before his brother, sister-in-law, niece and said niece's fiancé returned to life. It was only a few weeks left to their planned rebirth in the Gardens of Lorien and even in the Halls, the very mention of Túrin Turambar was enough to send three of the four into a rage. 

 

“By Varda, why **_those two_ ** of all people to destroy the reputation off?! Is it a side-effect from the tale of Luthien and Beren!?” 

 

And this day which had hold such promises to be a calm one...


	2. Those who are reborn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orodreth and his family learns of what Finrod and Amarië found before

As he rode towards the Gardens of Lorien, where his brother and that side of the family had been reborn a few weeks ago but chosen to not leave yet for various reasons, Finrod dreaded their reaction on how his niece's good reputation in her first life there in Beleriand, had been destroyed so much because of stupid rumors. 

“My brother, weak-willed? Hardly, my brother simply takes after our father the most, and have never liked to be in the center of attention unless it was related to his love for herbalism and studies as a scholar!”  

 

Finrod recalled his own last moments, as he laid dying in the dungeon after defeating the werewolf to the price of deadly injures, his worries for how Orodreth would fare as King of Nargothrond instead of just being a regent until his own return. Everything had gone so wrong...  

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

When he arrived to the Gardens and was shown where his brother's family had been given a temporary home, Finrod found Orodreth almost exactly as one could have expected: 

 

Keeping himself busy with drawing a picture of the flower at his side, writing down its uses in everyday life in a neat handwriting below the image. His Sindarin wife Calen was boiling water to make tea for the family. Finduilas was nowhere to be seen closeby but she had to be around somewhere. 

 

“Artaresto!” Finrod called, using his brother's father-name in Quenya to get their attention, though Orodreth would be called that almost solely by their parents nowadays. In fact, all of the five children of Finarfin and Eärwen had gotten so used to their Sindarin names during the Exile in Middle-Earth that Finrod even had added them to their official names, to make it easier for Elves coming from Middle-Earth to know who they were if the Noldor spoke of them. 

 

“Findaráto!” Orodreth greeted in joy at seeing his elder brother, before switching to Sindarin for his wife's sake; “What are you doing here in a such hurry? Have the royal court demanded our return from the peace here?”   

 

Beside him, Calen made a unhappy face. Having been a religious leader of a nomadic clan of Sindar in her youth, both before and after marriage, she had never really found herself comfortable at a royal court, even if she had managed Nargothrond pretty well under the care of her brother-in-law. Being a queen, however, with Orodreth becoming King of Nargothrond for real instead of just a regent, had not been the most enjoyable time of their marriage.

 

“No, our parents have not changed the date for when your family wanted to come to Tirion. But Amarië helped me find out something which...is rather likely to  _ sour _ the family reunion.” 

 

Just like in the past, Orodreth looked very alike their father Finarfin with his eyebrows set in a frown. And Calen had a matching look of suspicion. 

 

“Just say it, kinsman,” she almost commanded while taking out some clay mug for three persons, indirectly bribing him with some of the sweet-smelling tea she had made. 

 

Knowing that he could not keep it hidden for all day, Finrod gave in and seated himself at their side. 

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

Meanwhile, at a small lake not far away, Finduilas and Gwindor was busy enjoying each other. Not many weeks after their rebirth, they had agreed that a wedding was long overdue for them, with the last years of Nargothrond and the long waiting in the Halls of Mandos to be healed from the trauma of their deaths and thus taken out the wedding night in secret to fully make sure that no one could separate their hearts again. 

 

Not that either set of parents seemed to have gotten fooled, they had noticed pretty a few knowing smiles and small gifts normally only given to newly-married couple. 

 

“ **_WHAT?!?!_ ** ” someone suddenly yelled in the distance, ruining their romantic moment. 

 

“That was your father. What could have made him scream like that?” Gwindor wondered, knowing his father-in-law to be a peaceful personality but still able of showing some thorns to string people who pushed his patience too far. 

 

“I do not know, but we should find out in case someone is going to find themselves... _ violently ill _ from a little gift sent from him.”

 

Finduilas knew what she was talking about. It had happened a few times back in the First Age that Orodreth used his knowledge in herbalism to remind people that he did have a backbone instead of being all meek, his cousins Celegorm and Curufin had been reminded of that the hard way after being served a mild herb toxin in their wine which had not killed them, but still messed up with their digestion for some subsequent days. His own little punishment for their attempt to make him a mere puppet king while they held all the power. 

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

Indeed Orodreth was already grinding up a special variant of herbs in a mortar by using a pestle when his daughter and son-in-law arrived, muttering angry under his breath. And Calen was looking like she wanted whip someone with birch branches to teach a lesson of some kind.  

 

“Uncle Finrod!” Finduilas greeted her oldest uncle and Gwindor bowing in greeting to his former King, before asking: “What happened to make my parents this angry? You never manage that too often, from what I can recall.” 

 

In response, Finrod held out two books towards her, a look of honest dread on his face because he likely had expected her parents to react as they had done. Opening the history book where he had marked it with a nice bookmark, and then the summary of the smaller book, Finduilas said nothing at first. 

 

“Are you saying...that people believed me willing to cast away Gwindor for that short-lived, arrogant mortal?” 

 

There was the same poisonous tone Orodreth used about Túrin, and pretty much anyone else in Nargothrond who had lost their life because of him in some manner. A lot of the blame was on the bridge Túrin had requested to be build, and found out the hard way that it could not be destroyed quickly. 

 

At Finrod's nod, Finduilas looked so much alike her aunt Galadriel in her open fury for a moment that the firstborn son of Finarfin wondered just at which point in history people had started to believe his niece to be a easily influenced, foolish maiden who would abandon her fiancé for someone else. 

 

“ **_Those idiots!_ ** If they had to suffer his arrogance and love for insignificant glory in battle for five long years in their own home, I doubt that they would remain impressed at watching him interfere with private meetings between me and Gwindor when I remained faithful to the one I love! And it sure is a great way of proving yourself to be a better son-in-law by leading a King out into battle where said King gets killed! Do I need to remind those blind idiots that it was his  **_stupid bridge_ ** that doomed Nargothrond against Adar's wishes for the realm to remain hidden!?” 

 

Gwindor, who had remained silent while his wife ranted in anger about Túrin and how said mortal had ruined so much with his mere presence in Nargothrond, spoke up: 

 

“May I suggest something that will make people realize that they are being mistaken about my fair warrior princess and what really happened back then?” 

 

Well, it couldn't hurt to listen on what Gwindor might have for idea, especially if it could help to restore Finduilas' good reputation that has been destroyed after her horrible death.          

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspiration for the background of Orodreth's wife:
> 
> https://senalishia.tumblr.com/post/182914626921/silm-headcanon-orodreths-wife-was-a-religious


	3. A hidden search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finarfin and Eärwen finds more and more ugly things in their very own city

Recalling how overwhelmingly things had been when their oldest son had been reborn and came back to Tirion, Finarfin and Eärwen kept silent about that their second son and his family would soon join them here in Valinor again. The joy of getting another one of their children back, was muted by the unpleasant discovery that Finduilas had been ruined by what people told of the last years of Nargothrond in history books and the rumor of that she had been in a doomed hidden romance with that mortal.

 

“To think that a such grave misunderstanding can be created by the lack of proof and no surviving witnesses….” Finarfin muttered in distaste as he helped his wife to dress for the day. 

 

“Some people are...more drawn towards romance delights in such fantasíes, without bothering to look at the bigger image or possible problems,” Eärwen spoke in a similar voice. She had seen her own fair amount of young females being worrying naive then it came to love and romance. Often it was because they had been sheltered from the bad sides of such feelings or encouraged to think in that kind of manners, which was cute until a certain age when it would only become evidence of frustrating childishness to people around them, a kind of immaturity which was not liked in social events for young ladies in a marriageable age and not encouraging possible suitors to take a bride.  

 

“My King and Queen?” 

 

Eärwen nodded, allowing a plainly dressed Elf to enter their chamber. It was one of Finrod's servants, who had served him in Nargothrond and been quick to offer his service once again when his former master had married Amarië, for a good-sized household needed male servants as well outside housemaids.   

 

“Well? Finarfin wondered in a kind voice. The servant looked agonized, as if he really did not want to say something: 

 

“Eh...how to say it….yes, we was  _ forced to break into _ some of the bookstores in the middle of night to look for hidden storerooms, as my lord feared...and we found  **_even more of those horrible books_ ** which slander the good name of Princess Finduilas!  _ It is not just one author, it is several ones! _ ” 

 

Finarfin dropped the brush he had used on Eärwen's hair to the floor in shock, his eyes wide of disbelief. His wife kept herself together a little better, even as she was handed a list of which bookstores which had been secretly stalling those books and hoping to sell them. Raising herself from the chair, she opened the door and called out:  

 

“Captain? Captain, you are under orders to bring in all  **_the owners and staff_ ** in the stores listed here, they are to be questioned about something that is bound to become a social scandal if we do not find the core to the problem!”

 

The captain of the city guard had originally been ready to give a report about what had happened in the city during the night, but at seeing the serious face of the Queen, he did not protest. 

 

“Shall my men chase out the customers from the listed stores when we arrests the staff and close them for the day?”

 

“Please do.”

 

This was really becoming a unpleasantness.

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

Of course, several owners and staff in various bookstores was horrified to find out that the door lock had been broken up and someone had been stealing from the storeroom, since several shelves now gaped empty after being emptied of their contents from the day before. 

 

“Those books was in a limited edition and I do not know where to find more of them…! And there is several people who wanted them after suggestions from friends in the same age!” 

 

Naturally there was some big protests when the staff in the bookstores suddenly was rounded by the city guard and ordered to come to the palace, and many shoppers was unhappy to not be able to buy the books they had planned to get their hands on, but the city guards explained that the King and Queen had learned about some illegal books someone used to ruin the good name of a relative, which could get possible buyers in big legal trouble for having those books in their home.   

  
  


Later that afternoon, the royal couple pretended to visit their daughter-in-law to get a more correct amount of the books the house servants had found. 

 

“All….of those are about the same story plot, with Finduilas not being faithful to her beloved back in the First Age?” 

 

It was nearly 250 books in total, laying in a uneven heap on the backyard where the servants was currently counting how many different titles there was and how many authors. 

 

“Based on the same theme and plot almost all of them uses, I have a feeling that it might be a secret club or something, made up by people who are big fans of the whole “forbidden love” part about Beren and Luthien...and thinks that it naturally have to be the same thing happening in Nargothrond,” Amarië explained, looking far from pleased over all this. 

 

“Young and naive about love, no doubt. Pardon my question, but are not this a kind of...feminine way of writing, Eärwen? I can not recall our four sons ever writing in this way, or are I wrong?” 

 

Eärwen took a closer look at the leather-bound book her husband had opened at a random page.  

 

“Yes. Young females, all in a social class which allows them regular access to large amount of parchment and ink, and often goes on meetings with those of a similar mind and age when it comes to romance. I would say the lower to upper noble families, maybe upper middle classes as well, for I doubt that the daughters of the merchant families would be allowed to waste things their parents need in their daily business.” 

 

Really, she wished that she could slap the faces of those who had started this whole mess by adding in that foolish rumour into the history books! Was they blind to how a such thing could become a disaster in the long run, especially now when her son and granddaughter was about to return? And able to tell what really had happened back then?   

  
~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

It was only when returning to the palace, as Finarfin recalled a detail previously overlooked; those who had been alive in the First Age and able of writing what had happened in the Fall of Nargothrond.

 

“Please do not tell me that…”

 

Yes, there it was. In a list of survivors from Gondolin, all who had traveled to the Mouths of Sirion and blended in with refugees from Doriath, which had been closer than Gondolin. A name Finarfin had not been thinking of before: 

 

Pengolodh, a Loremaster well known for his history texts. 

 

In fact, Pengolodh was listed among a few others as the writers of the texts now serving as a history book over the events of the First Age. Meaning that they had sown the seeds of this disaster by not checking whatever the whole “love triangle” in Nargothrond really was true and just adding it into the history text about the realm Finrod had grounded, without thinking.   

 

“Of all times for this scandal to be happening...the welcoming ceremony for my son and his family is happening tomorrow and we wanted it to be a joyful event, not this mess….”

 

It was with great aversion Finarfin wrote down some separate summonings to the Loremasters in question, ordering them all to come to the palace for a “little, much needed  _ talk _ ” right now no matter what they were doing in that moment, or risk getting dragged there involuntary by the city guards. 

 

Perhaps they would not be able to clean out this mess before the day tomorrow, but Finarfin intended to clean the name of his granddaughter and her fiancé from the bad reputation which haunted their names since their deaths, if that so was the last thing he did. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I mentioned in the A/N of the first chapter, this is not really meant as a attack against fanfiction and such, only a attempt to show that there can and will be HUGE legal troubles ahead if someone slanders the name of people from powerful positions or families, especially if said slandering is found out 
> 
>  
> 
> One good example is the rumour of that Elizabeth of York was in love with her uncle Richard III and that her husband Henry VII of the House of Tudor was a abusive jerk to her. By all evidence Elizabeth and Henry was happy together, while Richard actually had plans to marry the Portuguese princess Joana as his second wife


	4. A different image than expected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finduilas and Gwindor have a little secret to reveal together

Somehow, the common people had gotten words about the reason to why several bookstores had been visited by “burglars” the previous night, and why a roughly ten well-respected loremasters had been called to the royal palace yesterday. Based on the crowds that had formed in front of the homes of those loremasters and threw both rotten fruits on the house walls and stones to break the windows, the former inhabitants of long gone Nargothrond was not pleased over the bad reputation Finduilas had gotten after her death.   

 

“ ** _DISRESPECTFUL FOOLS!!_ **”

 

“ ** _YOU ARE NO LOREMASTERS, YOU ARE MERELY HISTORY COUNTERFEITERS WHO WRITES FALSE HISTORY!!_ ** ” 

 

“ ** _PRINCESS FINDUILAS REMAINED FAITHFUL TO GWINDOR TO THE END, THAT DAMNED MORTAL ONLY LIKED HER FOR HER POSITION AS THE NEXT RULER OF NARGOTHROND AND WANTED THE POWER OF BEING HER HUSBAND!!_ **”

 

It took at least a hour before the city guards managed to make the crowds stop blocking the streets, and it was by pure luck that no one had gotten injured or that it had not formed into a riot. But the city of Tirion was in a uproar, that was for sure.

  


As they enjoyed breakfast, Finarfin and Eärwen got news of what had happened earlier in the wee hours of dawn.

 

“I am not that surprised, really. Many people from Nargothrond are well-known to have that mortal as a sore point, because of how many deaths he indirectly caused thanks to that infamous bridge which was built in the wrong materials to be destroyed quickly by the remaining people in the underground city,” Finarfin said in a less than impressed voice, his cup of tea held just in front of his face since he had been about to drink the tea when they had gotten the news. Eärwen said nothing, but the rise of one eyebrow spoke of agreement of the words her husband just had spoken.

 

Today was not a time for social unrest. As long as there was some kind of order in the city, it would be easier to welcome their second son back and welcoming the daughter-in-law and granddaughter who had lived their whole lives in Middle-Earth and thus would face a very different society than what they once had known in their first lives.

 

It was a few hours left, and the King and Queen consort needed to calm down the people.     

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

The city guards had formed two lines along the main street up to the royal palace, leaving some room for the small group of rides that came into Tirion, led by Finrod.

 

“Crown prince  Findaráto! Prince Artaresto and his family!”

 

Many people from Nargothrond had managed to get almost at the front, hoping to see their former lord and his family again. To the delight of many, Gwindor was at Finduilas' side. If he had been absent, they would have started to worry about what could have happened between the couple.

 

“Lord Orodreth!”

 

“Princess!”

 

Many voices was calling in Sindarin, showing that they did not blame them for what had happened in the years prior to the Fall of Gondolin. Gwindor did not mind that his wife and father-in-law had all the attention.

 

Still, Finduilas did draw attention because of the clothing she wore: a tunic and pants with leather boots, rather than a fine dress as many might expect a princess of royal blood to wear in public. She did not ride in a side-saddle, either. And rather than having her golden hair free down her back as a sign of feminity, it was set up in a very tight braid, likening Finduilas even more to the look of a warrior.

 

“That is the supposed princess from the history of Nargothrond?”

 

“She does not look like a sheltered maiden at all…”

 

Mumbles from those who had never left Valinor, confused by the contrast of how Finduilas normally was portrayed in the history books and this reality who even had a decorative sword at her hip.   

  


With Amarië a few steps behind them due to her rank as the wife to the Crown prince, Finarfin and Eärwen stood together at the front stairs to the palace, their style of clothing more of a newer fashion rather than the rather conservative style once worn by Finwë and Indis back in the Years of the Trees. After all, Finarfin had wanted show the difference between the reign of his father and his own one. being the third and youngest son after all, the no one had expected to take over the Kingship of the Noldor back in his now very distant youth.

 

“Father, mother. It gladdens my heart to see you again,” Orodreth smiled at his parents, dismounting to embrace them. While they had already met in the Gardens of Lorien after his rebirth, this was the official welcome back ceremony in which his wife and daughter would be introduced to the royal court of Tirion. Behind Orodreth, Calen and Finduilas curtsied while Gwindor bowed to the King and Queen consort.  

 

“It brings us much joy to have you back, dear son.”

 

Looking over his shoulder, Eärwen held back a smile at spotting a tiny detail which Finduilas must have chosen her clothing for.  

 

“And it is even a greater joy to finally meet the ones you created a family with.”

 

Hugging her daughter-in-law and granddaughter at the same time, Eärwen whispered in Finduilas' ear, using the best Sindarin she had managed to learn from her eldest:

 

“Your father requested a slightly belated ceremony in order for this to be visible, right?”

 

In fact, when Finduilas stepped back one step and removed more of the cloak which that covered her upper body, another change from the traditional view on her was revealed:

 

She was with child, enough many months since the conception for the unmistakable swell of her abdomen to be visible. She had roughly little more than half the pregnancy left.

 

“ _My_ **_daughter with Gwindor_ ** _decided that it was time to become part of our life as a_ **_married_ ** _couple. She will arrive just in time for the fifteenth month counting since our rebirth._ ”

 

Intentionally, Finduilas laid some extra weights on some of the words she spoke, loud and clear for the people to hear.

 

This was the triumph card she and Gwindor had against those foolish ideas of that she would rather chose Turin over him. A proof of their relationship, that she had remained faithful in heart and body, of their love being stronger than Turin's fruitless attempts to come between them.  

 

“Well, that is a welcomed addition to the family, indeed, as we are a bit lacking in daughters born among us outside Artanis and yourself, dear Finduilas. Come inside, we wish to hear more about this coming joyful event over the family lunch we planned,” Finarfin offered kindly with a happy smile, holding out his arm to guide his new family members inside the palace.

 

Before he followed his parents into the palace, Finrod took a quick glare around over his shoulder. As he had suspected, there was a lot of younger daughters among the courtiers who seemed shocked, almost upset even by the news of Finduilas being married to Gwindor and even carrying their child under her heart, as they whispered between themselves in a less than calm manner.

 

“Seems like we might have some suspects for that secret club for the “forbidden love” part in those horrible books about Finduilas…” he thought, giving a hand signal to a trusted servant to keep a eye on those young noble maidens to see if there was other hints to them being the sheltered and naive writers behind those badly written books about unrealistic romance.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, those badly written books about Finduilas and Turin ARE meant to be a parody on YA novels and how similiar the romance plots in such books can seem after some closer look. Asv well that not all young fanfic writers really have mastered the art of writing about romance and love because of their age


	5. To slowly close a net

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Loremasters finds out that neither Finarfin or Orodreth "finds it funny" with the wrong history writing

As the day turned into early evening, Finduilas and Gwindor knew that they had the full attention of the court, and they could tell from the hushed whispers which quickly died down whatever one of them passed by, that there was some details about their relationship which people had been shocked by.  

 

“Really, how can they believe that I would fall for a distant relative to the Man who indirectly caused the death of my uncle?” Finduilas muttered in disapproval, her arms crossed but not rested on her stomach. Their unborn daughter would respond with a strong kick as revenge if there was some weight upwards, the royal granddaughter had found out a month or so earlier.  

 

“Sheltered from the horrors we saw in Middle-Earth and believing that Luthien and Beren “inspired” you that a mortal lover would not be too bad?” Gwindor offered as a deliberately bad joke, making her laugh:      

 

“Good one, especially about the claimed inspiration source!”  

 

Giving Amarië the task of pretending to lead the young couple out from the ballroom under the disguise of her secretly spotting that Finduilas was not reacting that great on some of the food from earlier and seeing the three Elves make their exit with that excuse, Finduilas even managing to look a little more pale in the face on purpose, Finrod nodded to the servant from earlier to come closer:  

 

“I managed to get the names of the young ladies you found a little suspicious of their behavior and reaction on your niece's revealing about their marriage and her future motherhood, my lord.”

 

Finrod nodded slowly as he was secretly handed a small list of names. Most of the mentioned maidens was newcomers at court, having just passed the minimum age for coming out in the social circle of their rank and would likely spend the coming years in search of a good-matching husband. 

 

“Better to drag them out of those silly, unrealistic dreams of romance and love while they still are young, or they will face trouble in the future when it comes to their own possible marriages thanks to having too high expectations on how a possible husband is bound to behave….” 

 

Again Finrod had to see the unspoken difference between the Noldor who had left Valinor in Exile and those who had remained: 

 

The former Exiles was not as easy trusting in what others said, often better to see if someone tried to play a political game, and both their sons and daughters was more free to do what they wished to do in a career or marrying outside their birth status.  

Meanwhile, the traditional roles of a family and what was viewed as acceptable to do and what was unacceptable to do according to gender, now slowly being viewed as more and more old-fashioned in a changing world, was often still set in the noble families who had remained in Valinor. Sure, they had managed to get more power in Tirion when possible rivals had chosen Exile, but the downside was that with former Exiles returning with a vastly changed view on morals and all that, their own children would face difficulties in finding a suitable partner with the same values. 

 

The daughters of the “faithful” noble families being sheltered from the more unpleasant side of reality, was not helping to widen their view on things. 

 

“Damn...had I known this to become a side-effect of helping Beren, I would have requested Finduilas and Gwindor to marry far earlier and perhaps give my brother a grandchild as backup heir to Nargothrond if I died...” 

 

It was in moments like this, that Finrod felt like a idiot for having “indirectly” encouraged Beren to believe how the Quest of Silmaril could be successful, with his help. How bitter it felt in his mouth, to know that his own niece would be haunted by his failure in a such manner.

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

In fact, Finduilas was not feeling sick at all, but she and Gwindor was instead guided to a wing in the palace where they would live until that they had brought a house to call their own home.

 

There was a list of names laying on a smaller table in the dining room. 

 

“The L oremasters most likely the ones to have started this...story about what happened in Nargothrond?” 

 

“Yes, my young lady and lord. At least what the High King himself suspect.”

 

Gwindor was not surprised that Finduilas was addressed first, since she was Finarfin's granddaughter by blood. He had only married into the family despite being enrighted to the title prince of Nargothrond and was not a blood relative of any kind until that their shared daughter would be born in half a year. 

 

“Shall we rest?”

 

“My feet are a bit swollen as they always becomes in the evenings currently, so despite my wishes, I can not go and visit those loremasters yet.” 

 

She was hinting to that Finarfin had left a tiny mention of where the loremasters had been placed in the palace. Gwindor did not doubt that she desired to give them a “ _ nice little telling _ ” of what she thought about their history writings, and he wished to do so as well. After all, he had seen Turin not hiding his intentions towards Finduilas as good as the Man believed. Gwindor was of a peaceful nature, and kindness being one of his best attributes, but even he had his limits to what he was willing to accept. 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Of course, the following days at the royal court was not easy for the reborn family. Finduilas had been ready on that the bad reputation would haunt her in the shape of male Elves who did not do the most hidden rude signs towards her when she looked, or the looks which was sent in her direction. Though a lot of those people got a good taste of the former servants from Nargothrond defending their mistress, by pretended clumsiness and doing other things which made it seem like the nobles was in the way for the daily tasks to be done as quickly or quietly as possible. 

 

“If you view our princess as a faithless woman, go to Middle-earth yourselves and see what the mortal women sometimes do as work under the night's darkness! Princess Finduilas is as pure as snow with such females!”    

 

And Gwindor showed that despite losing one hand in the past, he still had mastered a very useful skill which one needed only one hand to do: tossing small pebbles on those who he wanted away from Finduilas. Then there was the mysterious herbal tea Orodreth served to people, especially whatever they brought up Turin or the Fall of Nargothrond in a moment of carelessness, which was said to bring...unpleasant body reactions related to the stomach area. 

 

“I may be a scholar first and foremost, but I enjoyed researching about various herbs and its medicinal use there in Middle-Earth,” Orodreth smirked when yet another noble hurried away from the table where they had been sharing a bottle of wine, the other Elf being in rather desperate need of the privy. Calen smiled at her husband, knowing that he had poured in a small amount of a powerful laxative in the other goblet. 

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

Soon enough, Finarfin ordered that the Loremasters was to be brought to the throne room for judgment in a private trial where Findulias and Gwindor would reveal themselves. 

 

“My King, why have we not been allowed to return home? Surely there was no need to lock us up like criminals…”   

 

But the High King was not in the mood of listening to such confusion. 

 

“You  **_are_ ** suspected of having committed a crime long ago, back in the second to last century of the First Age. By not checking properly whatever a certain rumour was true or not before you added it to the history texts, you started a hurtful belief which have ruined the good name of a relative to me, and caused people to think less than pleasant things about that person's true personality.”

 

More than one of the Loremasters paled a little bit at his words. 

 

“Are it about the current High King of the remaining Exiles? Surely your Majesty must understand the confusion about his parentage, no one really knows if it is your nephew or your own second-born who is his father…” 

 

“ **_Gil-galad is the son of Fingon and have never been mine,_ ** ” Orodreth could not help but telling out aloud, drawing attention to himself where he and his wife had been seated. The sight of the second son of Finarfin, purposely dressed up in a set of robes similar to those he had worn as King of Nargothrond, seemed to make the loremasters get a hint to what the trial might be about.

 

“M...my lord, there was confusion about the young King because of his age...there was not much information…” 

 

Orodreth held up a hand to silence them. 

 

“ _ It is not me you should apologize to. It is _ **_those two._ ** ”

 

Finduilas and Gwindor had chosen that moment to enter the throne room. She was dressed in a robe similar to her father, skillfully hiding her pregnancy, but the sword at her side and Gwindor wearing a suit which reminded a lot about armour, seemed to give a very good clue.

 

“Which one of you was foolish enough to believe that I would fall in love with a distant relative to the mortal who caused the death of my uncle? That I was shallow enough to throw away a faithful fiancé who had survived a living hell, and starting to fancy a short-lived mortal simply because he was more good-looking in contrast?”

 

Her voice was like ice, full of disappointment and cold fury. 

 

“Was it because I had helped out a bit in the Quest for the Silmaril, with Beren and his Elven princess? Was it a attempt to try and make it seem more acceptable with marriages between mortals and Elves? Like that people would not question the marriage between Idril and her mortal husband?” Finrod took the opportunity to ask, aimed especially against Pengolodh, who had not arrived to the Havens of Sirion until sixteen years after the Fall of Nargothrond. 

 

“....it was for the sake of lady Idril and lord Tuor...yes...I got the task of looking if there was...other confirmed relationships like...them….” Pengolodh managed to confess, where he knelt on the floor, trembling in terror as Finduilas threw her sword out. At least he admitted why he had tried to find other Elf-mortal couples outside Luthien and Beren, the most famous among those First-born who had fallen for a Second-born. That had been somewhat logical, Idril and the other survivors from Gondolin had been cut off from the rest of Beleriand before the Fall of the Hidden City, and they had faced distrust from the other Elves because of how little Turgon had helped the other Noldorin Exiles. And her being married to Tuor instead of a fellow Elf would not have been seen with kind eyes by everyone.   

 

“I do not know where you first heard that idiotic rumour about Turin and us, but you were the ones to make it seem like a historical fact and thus cared not what people would end up thinking about it!”

 

The sound of the sword tip hitting the marble floor echoed in the throne room. This threat of possible injury from her wrath was enough for the other Loremasters to confess as well. Again Finduilas had proved herself to be a very different person than what rumours said, which was very helpful right now for the family. 

 

“This is my judgement then;  _ Each one of you will be dismissed from the Guild of Loremasters for the next three hundred years, your names will be united with false rumors and false history because your information sources was very questionable from the start, your texts about the Fall of Nargothrond will be removed from the history books because the whole love triangle story with my granddaughter is false and replaced with actual facts based on testimony of its inhabitants about what actually happened in its last years as a realm. You shall also pay a huge composition to my granddaughter and her now married husband as part of the penalty for this crime, _ ” Finarfin spoke in a firm voice and rose from his throne as a sign of that the trial was over, not allowing any protests from the disgraced Loremasters over the sentence because this was only one of many different ways they intended to end the bad rumors about his granddaughter.

 

Besides, there was other people they needed to catch in this carefully planned trap, without any hint of what to come. In a few days, hopefully those young female writers would be caught red-handed in the middle of writing more scandalous books about Finduilas and Turin if things went as they hoped. That little complaint from a cafe owner about constantly visited by a group of young noble daughters and finding them to be a annoyance when there was other customers to serve and those girls trying to claim all the employees' attention to refilling the teapot with new, heated tea and serve new cookies when a plate of them were emptied, had been a good hint to where they might gather together to write without being found out by the parents.   __


	6. To catch a prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the writers behind the scandalous books are revealed and caught

Because the plan could be ruined if Finduilas and Gwindor went to the cafe to face the young ladies, it fell upon the servants to be the ones to catch them in there.   

 

To ensure that they would be caught off guard, Orodreth had sent a set of dried “special” herbal tea leaves to the cafe with a small request to serve that tea to the ladies as a new tea they would request to be given because new tastes sometimes arrived just in the city cafes to see if it would be a success among customers or not. It would distract them, for sure, Orodreth had mentioned in a small note to the owner. 

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

As usual, the dreaded group of young ladies arrived soon after that the cafe had opened for the day and, as always, booked the room at the roof because of the view over the city there thanks to a fine balcony there in the two-floor cafe. 

 

“We have been given some new tea which we hope to become a new favorite, my ladies. You have the honor to being the ones chosen to test and judge it,” a  waitress said in a pretended sweet voice as she set down the huge pot of tea on the table, while in reality she could not wait to see what the King's second son had sent them to ensure that they finally could get rid of those young noble daughters for good.  

 

“Get us some of those jam cookies and finger sandwiches to have to the tea.” 

 

Not even asking in a kind voice, but the kind of command normally given to the maid servants at home, as if the cafe was just another room in their homes. Had it not been for their social status and the high risk of consequences of being brought to a court with notification of disrespectful behavior where he would most likely lose the lawsuit, the cafe owner would have banned those young ladies from his cafe a long time ago. Yes, they did pay well on each visit, but demanded so much attention from the cafe staff about minor things, that other customers risked to be neglected in their orders. 

 

“As if there is any truth about the Princess actually being married, it have to be a lie in order to ensure that people will not question who the father is to her child.”

“It can not be that bore she claims to be married to, he does not seem like a warrior at all!” 

 

“Yeah, her parents must have forced her to marry him, because they refused to accept that Turin is more of a hero….” 

 

“Surely Turin must be the father? I mean, princess Idril is married to a mortal and they managed to have a child together....”

 

Again, their manner of speaking about women who were married mothers, hinted to that they had no actual idea about how pregnancy worked. Or love-making, for the matter. Their own mothers did not find those facts of life to be something you talked about in the presence of young daughters, who they wanted to remain innocent until the wedding.  

 

Suddenly, all the talk for the plots in their new planned books stopped as they felt some growing discomfort in their stomachs, interrupting their fantasy, far from reality mental images of Turin pretty strongly. Which quickly turned into cramps, even. In reality, that herb tea was actually a medicine for females suffering from severe stomach cramps when they had their red flower on visit, and ingesting said medicine when it was not needed, generally resulted in exactly that kind of cramps and dawning feelings of nausea the young ladies suffered from at this very moment.  

 

“What kind of tea did those useless people serve us?! They are going to be sued for this….!!” 

 

There was a hurried rush to the privy on the first floor, each one of the women trying to push the others out of the way, all of them growing more and more desperate to get there first, if it now worked to vomit out the herbal tea from their stomachs.  

 

Only to suddenly face the spears of the city guards, pointed at them.

 

“You are under arrest for aspersion of Princess Finduilas and her husband Gwindor, of belittle things beyond your understanding.” 

 

Caught in the act, indeed, as they had carelessly left their papers on the table when they had rushed out like that, and there was even newly written words to act as further proof. 

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

Of course, the parents of the arrested ladies was horrified to find out that their offsprings had broken the law. Slander to ruin someone's reputation was a big no-no in the upper classes, especially if it was aimed against someone of a even higher status than yourself because doing a such thing could bring ruin to yourself if it backfired. And with Finduilas being the King's granddaughter, married to Gwindor as soon as they could after rebirth and even expecting her first child, this could only end in disaster for their family. 

  
  


Which indeed proved true, on the day of the trial, with Finarfin once again acting as a judge:

 

“Two thirds of your daughters's respective dowry will be given to Finduilas and Gwindor as composition for spreading lies about their relationship in the past, while the remaining third shall go to Orodreth and Calen, since those books questioned his actions as King of Nargothrond as well.”

 

The affected noble families was not exactly brought to financial ruin with the loss of the dowries for their publicly disgraced daughters, but it would take several decades for them to rebuild the lost amount of money and their own social reputation would take a deep fall as well. 

 

“Outside being sent back to school to relearn how to properly do research with school work and to not lose their heads in tales of romance, they shall also become common farm workers on farms owned by former Exiles, to get a wider view of the world and to not expect things to be taken for granted.” 

 

What Eärwen did not mention, was that those chosen farms was owned by people from Nargothrond, who was only too happy to slowly use carefully chosen words to destroy this foolish fantasy of Turin as the male half in a forbidden romance with Finduilas. For all the talk of Turin being cursed by Morgoth, not all the bad deeds following his path in life could be blamed on that curse. His own arrogance and pride was also part of the blame. 

 

“You heard the judgements of my parents. Anyone to protest?” Finrod asked sweetly from his chair, but his threatening aura warned others from saying a wrong word. As result, almost everyone shook their heads.  

 

“Good. Now, send those stupid books to become fuel for the kitchen fires. The pages are not worth anything else and I will not have them become the spark of a new slander about my daughter and son-in-law behind our backs. The whole  **_nonsense_ ** about what really happened in Nargothrond is bad enough,” Orodreth spoke in a cold voice, revealing his own displeasure over what had happened to his family after death. 

 

“It is time to grow up and become wiser in the true manner of adulthood,” Calen smiled at the noble daughters who had been silenced from protesting by their nervous parents, but the smile did not reach her eyes, which held a similar fury as her husband. Being a Sinda who had lived her whole first life in Middle-earth, she was foreign for them and many of them had no true idea how to treat her, outside the normal respect given to the wife of a royal prince, while hoping that they did not offend her in some unknown way. Well, Orodreth's family had no intention to stay at the royal court for long after this trial, two mansions a good distance outside the city had been given to them to use as their own homes and there was a future birth to focus on. The future mattered more than the past now. 

 

“Truer words are rarely spoken, mother dearest,” Finduilas was heard in agreement, where she allowed Gwindor to gently caress her hand with his fingers over her palm, helping her to remain calm. 

  
  
  


On the way back to their wing, Finduilas and Gwindor happened to see Rumil, one of the most famed Loremasters in Valinor. Spotting them, he came over with a writing kit under one arm. 

 

“Ah, just the young couple I was looking for. Ever since it was revealed that some part of the history of Nargothrond were in fact false, I took it upon myself to seek those who lived in the city at the time and hopefully get a truer image of the events. And as some of the main players there, I thought that you might want to have a little look?”  

 

He handed over some parchments, a first draft of a new history book. Looking it over, Gwindor handed it back. 

 

“In the matters of Turin...I was the first one in Nargothrond to see him, and it is wonderful that someone finally thinks of asking me.”

 

“Perhaps the King should demand a law about that people really have to do their proper research then, unless they want to be viewed as lazy writers,” Rumil suggested, making the much younger couple laugh. Hopefully this trial with the noble daughters and the one with the other Loremasters would serve as reminder for the Noldor of not being lazy when writing something related to history, indeed.  

 


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finduilas and Gwindor leaves Tirion to start their new life and family

The two mansions was not too far away, but Orodreth and Calen had taken the one further away from Tirion, on the basis that it was closer to a little forest and that Finduilas would need the service of skilled midwives, quickly brought in from Tirion, in a few months' time when she would give birth. 

 

Seeing their new home, which was all their own, was very pleasant for Gwindor and Finduilas when they arrived closer in the distance, now being enough close that they could see the vast garden around the house. A couple of carriages had been chosen for the travel for them and their servants, partly because of that they brought along far more clothes, furniture and other necessary things needed in a new household. Besides, Finduilas was now past the pregnancy months when she could ride a horse reasonable comfortably, now her growing stomach was slowly getting in the way when riding. 

 

“We will need to choose a room for the nursery. Perhaps one of the chambers facing south for the warmth?”

 

Finduilas had almost dozed off against the soft pillows, but she still nodded weakly. 

 

“A lovely green paint on the walls, like a forest, maybe even some painted trees and a image of a little river…”

 

Gwindor did not mind that she fell asleep for a little bit, they could plan more about the nursery for their daughter later when they arrived to the mansion and they had started to make use of the most necessary rooms; the kitchen and sleeping areas for everyone in the household. Anything else involving decoration and such, could wait for a few more days. 

 

“Time to finally start a life together as a married couple and future family without the shadow of that mortal behind us.”

 

Their still unborn daughter and any future siblings of hers, would never know Turin as anything else than a person from history, an arrogant man who drew others into tragedy around him. 


End file.
